Star Trek Maximillian: A Great Adventure
by Chris C Stephenson
Summary: Two years after the events of Beyond the Final Frontier, the crew of the USS Maximillian welcomes aboard their newest members, while fighting a creature with unknown origins.
1. Chapter 1

This story was originally published for the USS Maximillian.

For more information please visit maxwriters . pbwiki . com

The events in this story take place about two years after "Beyond the Final Frontier"

**Star Trek: Maximillian**

**A Great Adventure**

Written by Chris Stephenson

"_To Die would be a great adventure"_

_---Peter Pan_

**Prologue**

**Prologue**

The bridge was brightly lit, as usual, with a sort of silverish blue tone to the chairs and workstations. As it was the middle of the night, it was sparsely populated, with only a few officers going over calculations or idly chatting to pass the time.

Lieutenant Commander Jaydin sat at a science station, blurry eyed but otherwise awake, scanning for anomalies, while keeping an eye on her padd. She was studying for a quiz that would take place soon for a correspondence course through Starfleet Academy. She yawned quietly, and checked the time. She had another hour to kill before her shift was up, then she would finally be able to get some rest, or at least a short nap before she got back to her studies.

The _Maximillian_ had been ordered to sector 9751 to investigate a mysterious radio signal received by an outpost a month prior. However, since their arrival two short weeks ago, there had been no further contact of any kind. It was expected by most of the senior staff that they would spend another day or two out in the expanse and then be ordered elsewhere.

The sudden insistent beeping from the command chair broke the calm, and caused LCDR Jaydin to jump slightly. It took her a quick second to realize that, due to the late night absence of the senior staff, she was the highest-ranking member on the bridge. She quickly moved over to the Captain's chair, sat and prodded the touch screen on the arm. The message was not marked priority nor urgent, but it was obviously of some importance to the Captain due to it coming directly to his seat. Since Captain Kelvok was not on duty, Jaydin made the decision to satisfy her curiosity and read the information.

Her eyes grew wide as she read the message, and she sat back in shock. Her eyes teared up, and after a moment, she looked up, looking at the concern of the remaining bridge crew.

"Commander?" A young ensign asked slowly.

"Bad news guys." Jaydin spoke softly.

Captain Kelvok awoke adjusting his eyes to the soft light of his quarters. The beep, not blaring but loud enough to wake him from his slumber, was the first thing he noticed. He took a moment, and then answered the call as he sat up, already preparing to make his way to the bridge. "Yes, Commander?" He spoke as though he had been awake for hours.

LCDR Jaydin's voice came quietly over the intercom. "Captain, you received a message from Starfleet Command."

Kelvok nodded. He didn't expect their new orders to come at this time of night, though he welcomed a change from the mundane scanning of a lifeless system. The only notably thing was a red giant, and the remains of a planet that had been destroyed millennia ago; there was a large quantity of asteroids in this system as a result, but nothing large enough to breach the shields, let alone the hull.

He noticed inflections in her voice, but refrained from a word about her need to quell her emotions, as it was late. She had been working too many late shifts lately, and he made a mental note to put her on an earlier schedule, as her studies with the Academy were taking up what little free time she had. He answered her. "Send it through to my quarters."

"Aye." A second later, his laptop pad slowly moved open, and he sat in front of it for a moment, taking in the message. Then he leaned back, closing his eyes, attempting to quell the flood of emotion welling up inside him. Yes, it was a good thing that he ignored LCDR Jaydin's rush of emotion. Even as a Vulcan, he acknowledged the hurt that this new information caused. And he also knew who must get the message next.

The lights were all off in Lieutenant Commander Critch Starblade's quarters. Despite the late hour, he stood by his window and watched the stars go by silently, trying to relax, trying to ignore his emotions. Normally he would be powered down, recharging his energy, a cycle that he didn't need more than once a week but enjoyed as often as possible. There was to be no rest for Starblade this night. He realized it would be easy to switch off his emotions, but then what good would that serve? His emotions made him effective in this universe, and they made him more than just another Marconian. More than the destroyer he was supposed to have become, more than the 'first wave' of an invading force.

More than just another Android.

He sighed heavily, and ignored the call from the door. After a few more notes he heard Jaydin's voice being piped in through the intercom. Before she said much more than "Critch…" He cut her off, far more roughly than he intended to, than he usually would respond to one of his closest friends on this ship, in this universe.

"I know."

She responded quickly, expecting something like this. She had seen Critch display many emotions, but mad and remorseful were not one of them, and it certainly wasn't something she wanted to experience.

"Can I come in? Can we talk?"

He simply said, "No.", And for the first time, since the harrowing events that made him realize who he was supposed to be, the events that brought about the deaths of many friends, including Lieutenant Amy Armstrong Thomas and Admiral Robert Lyon, Critch Starblade let tears fall down his face, and let the emotion carry him away.

Variations of this scene repeated itself throughout the ship during the morning hours, during shift changes, during late night calls and chance meetings in the halls, during announcements over the ship intercom, over the mess hall and the _Maximillian's_ own 'Battle Bar'. In every lifetime, people of all species remember where they were when history happened. When John F. Kennedy was shot, when the Towers fell, when World War 3 ended, when first contact was achieved, when the Borg Cube was destroyed, and now this. A question that would be asked and answered for years to come.

Where were you, when Data died?


	2. Chapter 2

This story was originally published for the USS Maximillian.

For more information please visit maxwriters . pbwiki . com

The events in this story take place about two years after "Beyond the Final Frontier"

**PART ONE**

_Critch Starblade sat in his quarters, staring at the figure on the couch across from him. The silence was heavy in the room, and the stars going past the window distracted the woman. After a moment, her attention turned back to LCDR Starblade, she looked at him quizzically. He sighed heavily, and began to speak._

"_It was a few years ago, when I lost my friend. As it turned out, I guess he was the reason I came to be in the first place, but it didn't matter. All that mattered was that was the first time that I had faced real emotion, the first time I had faced anything that I knew I couldn't beat. _

"_And then, after it was almost forgotten…it happened again."_

Captain Kelvok was in the upper deck of engineering, walking slowly towards his goal, Lieutenant Commander Critch Starblade. Starblade had, over the past week, worked steadily, taking odd shifts in other departments, filling in for others, never resting, never stopping. Although it was physically possible for him to continue at this pace, Kelvok and many of the crew of the Maximillian were worried for him. Jaydin had tried to talk with him several times, trying to get him to talk about how he was feeling, talk about his loss, but each time she had been rebuffed. All he would discuss was his work.

Starblade was kneeling, half in and half out of a duct, trying to repair a faulty conduit. Nothing that would affect the ship horribly, just a minor annoyance that was far down on the priority list for the engineering staff. Starblade had taken it upon himself to fix it while he was down here, before heading off for a stint in the armory.

The Captain raised an eyebrow as Critch began to speak to him, even though he had shown no sign of being aware of Kelvok's presence. "Something I can do for you, Captain?"

"Actually, Commander, I was wondering if there was anything I could do for you."

Critch crawled out of the small duct. "I'm fine."

Kelvok nodded. "You have apparently been fine for the last seven days. The ship will still function without your constant attention."

"It would function better with it."

"It is not healthy nor beneficial for you to continue at your current pace."

"Captain, is there a problem?"

"None that I am aware of, Commander, but I have fielded many complaints about your recent behavior from Commander Jaydin, among others. They are worried about you."

"They know I'm fine."

"Do they? You have not spoken to them in length since…"

"Captain, with all due respect, my personal affairs are my business."

"When they affect your well-being, this ship and this crew they are no longer your own. I have scheduled an appointment with Commander Jaydin for 0800 hours."

"I don't really have time for a checkup, Captain."

"I suggest you make time, Commander, this matter is not open for discussion. Afterward you will report to your quarters, and recharge."

"I don't need a recharge, Captain, I'm still fully functional."

"You do appear fine, however I will not take chances. We have discovered the source of the radio signal, on a planet that wasn't showing up on our sensors. You and Commanders Tamak and Jaydin will beam down and investigate. Do I make myself clear, Commander?"

"Perfectly sir."

"Very good." With his mission accomplished, Kelvok turned and walked away, leaving Critch to sit silently against the wall.

"_I imagine it's difficult for anyone to know how to react in these situations, let alone myself, who has limited knowledge with this kind of thing. It seemed like the right thing to do to handle it myself. A little self-destructive, maybe, but I was handling it…"_

"We're just trying to figure out what's going on with you, that's all. Just want to know that you're okay."

"In case you haven't noticed, I'm fine, Jaydin."

"You're not fine, Critch. Not in the emotional sense, anyway."

Critch sighed. He'd been sitting on the uncomfortable medical bed for fifteen minutes, and was already eyeing the door. He dreaded facing the third degree from Jaydin, from anyone. He had been silent in response to repeated badgering the past week, but apparently that tack wasn't working. He looked back at her as she approached him with a scalpel. "This coming from a race with permanent PMS."

"I'll ignore the Bajoran insults for now." She started to press the sharp edge against his head, when he reached up for her hand, and shook his head.

"Lower back, remember."

"Right. Marconian physiology takes some getting used to."

"What are you looking for, anyway?"

"Trying to see if your sensors are malfunctioning. It seems like there's an imbalance somewhere."

"There's no imbalance, there's no malfunction. I'm fine." Critch abruptly rose from the bed. "I'm tired of sitting around for this."

"And I'm tired of listening to you whine, I'm sorry you lost your friend, Critch, we all are, but that's no excuse for…"

"The android was not my 'friend', barely even an associate. I met him exactly twice, and once was only in passing."

Jaydin considered this. "If this is true, then why are you…"

"Why am I what? Trying to blow off a psychiatric exam? Because there's nothing for you to find, no human brain for you to decipher."

"There is something wrong with you, Critch. The way you're acting, the way you're behaving is not you. And until we work out what it is…" Jaydin stopped, unsure how to put it.

Critch wouldn't let her rest for long. "…Well? I don't have time to play games, Jaydin, we're due for the planet in less than…"

"You're not going to the planet, Critch. Whatever is causing you this emotional distress may be affecting other parts of your system. I'm recommending to the Captain that your rest cycle be doubled, effective immediately. By the time it finishes, the away mission will likely have been completed, depending on what we find. You're welcome to…"

Critch shook his head. "So because I'm not Mr. Happy, suddenly I'm confined to quarters?"

"Critch, just do what we ask, and you can pick up where you left off, I promise. We're trying to help you."

"And you're doing a fine job of it, too." Critch stalked off, out of sickbay and towards his quarters, grumbling about Starfleet procedure the whole way. He was fine. Wasn't he?

"_Granted, my way of handling it was to turn my back on everyone, but I didn't think it worth the risk. Data's death pounded a point home to me, that very simply I could very well live forever, or at the least certainly out live everyone I know, everyone I've ever met. With that knowledge, is it fair to allow myself to have friendships, relationships, anything with anyone?_

"_It could have ended up a lot worse than it did, I guess. I could have gone to the planet. A load of laughs that would've been, too."_


	3. Chapter 3

This story was originally published for the USS Maximillian.

For more information please visit maxwriters . pbwiki . com

The events in this story take place about two years after "Beyond the Final Frontier"

"I just don't understand why he's suddenly acting this way, it's so unlike him." Lieutenant Commander Jaydin was running her tricorder over a few branches of the jungle planet. They had traced the radio signal to its original source, and unexpectedly found an uncharted world, every square inch covered with swampland and vegetation. The temperature was humid, easily upper 90's, and the air was toxic. There was some disturbance that was making it unsafe to use the transporters, so the three crewmembers came down on the shuttle pod (), Jaydin, Commander Tamak, and Ensign Williams, were wearing breathing apparatuses, nothing that restricted their movement however.

Williams remained silent, lost in his own world of scanning. Tamak answered quickly though. "Although his look is as of a human, he is not, and we cannot forget that he does not have as much experience with emotions as most of us. Commander Starblade is capable, however, and will eventually come out of this state."

She nodded. "I feel like there's something I should be doing, some way I could help him. It's frustrating."

He nodded, running his own tricorder over a large section of tree. "It is perfectly understandable, Commander, I myself wish to see his troubles solved as quickly as possible. But I fear that further interference will just put him deeper into the shell he has built around himself. Patience is the best recourse now."

Williams broke in. "Are we sure that these are the correct coordinates?"

Tamak answered. "Patience works for many other things as well, Ensign. This is indeed where the signal originated from." He gestured to Jaydin, who tapped her commbadge.

The voice of the _Maximillian's_ communications officer, Mr. Nato, a Katarrian with what was widely considered the best set of ears in Starfleet, resonated through the system. "Bridge."

"Max, we're not reading anything down here, or seeing anything for that matter. Can you check the sensors?"

"Hold." Nato tapped his controls, working in conjunction with the science station. Kelvok walked over to him, looking over his shoulder at the controls, and raised an eyebrow.

"Away team, are you certain you are alone down there?"

Williams shivered, as they glanced around at the wilderness. Tamak answered. "Tricoder readings show no other life forms, Captain."

Nato listened closely, hearing something among the background.

Williams was the first to notice the tree move. Not so much move, as slither. A branch seemed to crawl along the ground. He jumped, and then cursed himself for behaving like a baby. "Commander, I think I found the life form." He said almost at a whisper, as Tamak and Jaydin turned around to look at him, and see what he was looking at.

The branches of the tree had all began to move, all moving towards the right of the away team, and then as they watched they noticed that on the opposite side the branches were slithering to the left. The branches began to bend, moving upward, and then the tree in the center began to lift upward, and Williams' eyes widened as the tree seemed to curve inward, until it was no longer a tree, but a green jaw. Small teeth, brown and sharp, began to emerge from the bark. It seemed to breathe in time with the small wind that was blowing, a short wheeze that chilled Jaydin. Tamak slowly moved his hand to his phaser. The tree creature let out a loud shriek, expelling large amounts of wind from its elongated throat, and the branches whipped around, as though preparing for battle.

The scream had come as a surprise to the crew on the Bridge, who had turned up the volume on the comm system to attempt to hear the movement on the planet. It took precious seconds for Kelvok to regain his hearing, and bark his question to the away team. "What was that?"

Williams was muttering to himself, and Jaydin was unable to speak as she was backing away slowly. Tamak had aimed his phaser at the plant-creature, and spoke softly. "The life form appears to be vegetation, Captain. Very much alive."

"A plant, Commander?"

"Affirmative, I am attempting to calm it." Tamak was eager to prove that his team was no threat, and certainly not edible. He turned his voice towards the creature, repeating that they meant it no harm that they did not mean to intrude.

If the creature understood what Tamak was trying to convey it did not show it. Instead, it seemingly began to drool, liquid began to drip out of its mouth, and when it hit the ground, it seemed to eat right through the mud and grime, leaving a sizzling smoke trail. The creature slowly began to move, using its branches to slither towards the away team. Tamak felt he had no choice, and fired his phaser into the side of the creature's mouth. It growled, but otherwise the shot had no effect. Jaydin looked at it in disbelief, and Tamak lowered his weapon. "Retreat, Commander." The three of them turned and began to move quickly through the forest, they found that the forest was coming alive around them. The trees and branches were all crawling along the floor. Jaydin was cursing their decision to land their shuttlecraft so far away, even though it was the closest clearing to where the signal had been. She put her head down. They would make it.

The creature rose up on its branches and had begun to move quickly. Williams made his first mistake when he slowed down to avoid a branch on the ground. Too late he realized what would happen. The branch sprung up and wrapped itself around his leg, and pulled him upward into the air, passing him from one vine to another. Jaydin glanced back and saw what was happening, and purely on instinct drew and fired her phaser at the vines. The beam had no effect, as they tossed their victim back towards the creature. Tamak grabbed Jaydin's arm. "If we do not move now, Commander, we will be joining him." She understood, and continued her original path to the shuttle pod, however not without futile looks back, searching for a last thread of hope.

She soon wished she hadn't. The creature opened its massive jaws and dropped the young ensign inside them. She heard the agonizing scream, even as she realized that his death had slowed the creature enough so that she and Tamak would make it to the shuttle.

As they reached the shuttle, with the vines of the creature on their heels, they climbed inside and raised their shields immediately. The plants did not take the hint, and attempted to wrap themselves around the landing legs of the craft. Tamak watched their shields drop from the repeated contact, and marveled silently at the capabilities of this beast. The shuttlecraft listed, then successfully made it into the air, it had to accelerate far faster than usual to break the vine, leaving half of the branch dangling, attached with a death grip to the leg of the shuttlecraft.

Tamak and Jaydin silently watched the landscape below, saw the great jungle move as one, heard the mournful cries of the creatures. Then they sat back, and marveled at their survival, and grieved for their loss.

Critch blinked to life, coming out of his unconscious state of recharge. It took a moment for all of his sensors and functions to come back online, and to gain his footing. He walked slowly across the room, running a standard diagnostic, and just as he expected, all was well. He could make out a figure in the room, sitting on the couches. He adjusted his vision, and then spoke.

"Captain." The greeting was terse. Kelvok expected this; LCDR Starblade had no reason to be happy with him. The captain hoped that he would drop his anger however, the situation was too important to have a fight right now.

"I hope you rested well, Commander."

"Well enough. I see the ship's still here."

"For the moment, perhaps."

"I assume I missed the away mission."

"Affirmative, Commanders Tamak and Jaydin returned 27 minutes ago. They are currently recovering."

"Recovering? Was there a virus?"

"A creature, Commander. It attacked them, and killed Ensign Williams. They were barely able to escape."

Critch put his head down for a moment, and then walked to the window, as though he could see what had happened by just gazing at the stars. "What kind of creature?"

"Botanical."

"A plant?"

"At least the appearance of one."

Critch thought a moment. "They made it back, well, most of them, safely. The creature, I assume, is still on the planet. Why are you here?"

Kelvok looked Critch in the eyes. "Because I have an assignment for you."

"First you don't want me doing anything, now you want me to get right back to work. I really wish you command types would make up your minds."

Kelvok ignored the challenge. "Apparently we have been shadowed. A ship has been following us ever since we entered the expanse."

Startled, Critch immediately said the first thought that entered his mind. "Marconian?"

"Federation. An old class of freighter, to be exact."

"And we didn't notice it until now?"

"The expanse runs across four distinct shipping lanes. It was assumed that it was heading for its destination. As it turns out, we were its destination."

"Do we know what it wants?"

Kelvok got up and walked to the window with Critch. "The ship carries our new crew member."

Incredulous, Critch turned and looked at Kelvok. "Crew member? Here? Now?"

Kelvok continued. "It has been planned for some time, but it was assumed that it would be years until she was ready, 'matured' enough to join a starship, and enter the Federation with enough training and respect to fit in well on any ship. However, recent events have pushed Starfleet to press her into service earlier than originally intended."

Critch shook his head. "It sounds like you're talking about a new model of ship, or communicator model."

Kelvok just stared. "You are not far off, Commander."

Critch suddenly realized his meaning, and backed up. "You _can't_ be serious."

"I'm afraid I am. The ship is docking within the hour."

"Captain, the last thing we need around here is another android!"

"One would appear to be enough, however, Starfleet is eager to 'fill a void', as it seems. Lieutenant Commander Data's death was not only a tragedy, but also an opportunity. The "B-4" Model may never be far enough along to be a suitable Soong model. Most feel, however, that Overload will be well suited to 'follow in his footsteps', as it were."

"Overload?" Critch scanned his memory banks.

"She specifically requested the Maximillian. Originally, of course, it was the Enterprise, but after what happened…"

"We've met her before, haven't we?"

"The Maximillian has. The previous incarnation to be exact."

"And she caused no small amount of damage."

"That was a long time ago. Starfleet feels…"

"Starfleet feels? What about how _we_ feel? Run down the list of Soong models! Data blew himself up, Lore was a nut, and B-4's elevator doesn't exactly go all the way to the top! We're running 0 for 3 here, and the odds aren't looking up for little miss "Overload" either."

Kelvok nodded. "She was not directly built by Soong, thus her appearance is far different. You requested to get back to work, so here is your mission. You will introduce Overload to the Maximillian."

"But Captain!"

"You will give her a guided tour of the ship, provide entertainment, and assist her in obtaining whatever she requires, until she feels comfortable with her surroundings."

"Captain!"

"And she is arriving now, Commander. Please accompany me to the landing bay." Kelvok began to walk out of the room, and Starblade followed, complaining every step of the way. Kelvok ignored every comment.

When they reached the landing bay, they stood outside. Kelvok listened to Critch's grumbling, and then said, "Commander, Overload specifically requested the Maximillian because of you. She had a close kinship with Commander Data, and is grieving for his loss even more than you are. As you are the last fully functional android operating in Starfleet today, she felt drawn to you. I realize this may come as no small consolation to you."

Starblade nodded, and turned his head, distracted by a small green sprout, seemingly growing out of the floor. Intrigued, he reached down and plucked it easily out of the ground. As he turned to inform the Captain, the landing bay doors opened.

"Hi, Kitty." A young girl, looking about 16, walked out of the bay. Kelvok raised an eyebrow.

"Captain." He extended his hand, and the girl grabbed it, jumping up and down as she shook it.

"Captain Kitty, then." She grinned, and saluted. She turned her bright expression-filled face over to Critch, who was struggling to maintain his composure. "DROID!" She ran and hugged him tightly, saying "Glomp." As she did so. Then she began to walk down the hallway quickly, glancing all around at the ship. Then, halfway down the hall, she stopped, and whistled. "Databit!"

Kelvok and Critch looked at each other, and then back at the bay doors, which reopened. A small figure walked out of the hallway, turned, went up to Kelvok's leg, hugged him, turned to Critch, hugged him, and then began to run to catch up to the girl.

The small figure was the spitting image of Data. Pocket-sized.

The girl was an android. Overload Soong-Maddox. Kelvok remembered she preferred to be called "Babs" for some reason. Critch could only stare as they disappeared around the corner.

"Captain?"

"Commander?"

"I'm…um…I'll be in sickbay…"

"I saw it too, Commander."


	4. Chapter 4

This story was originally published for the USS Maximillian.

For more information please visit maxwriters . pbwiki . com

The events in this story take place about two years after "Beyond the Final Frontier"

The Command Staff sat around the table in the boardroom with worried expressions on their faces, except of course for the Vulcan Captain and Commander, who merely looked bored, as Vulcans tend to do. There were two members, well, one and a half, of the crew of the Maximillian that weren't members of the Command Staff, there because of the need for a quick meeting, and for the need for introductions.

The newly assigned android Overload didn't share her colleague's worries. Her and her pint-sized companion, Databit, a perfect replica of Data except doll-sized, sat in a corner, gazing around the room, taking in the new sights and information. Databit sat on her lap, intrigued, and she raised a quick hand as the discussion lessened. Captain Kelvok glanced her way, and nodded.

"They were flowers?"

Lieutenant Commander Jaydin stopped for a moment. "Well…they were plants."

"Pretty plants?"

"Um…" She looked at the stone-faced Captain, who looked back with interest. "Not really, they were green and scaly, mostly."

"Then maybe that's why they were angry!" Overload sat back with an accomplished look on her face, and LCDR Critch Starblade glanced at both Jaydin and the Captain with a hint of an "I told you so" look on his face.

Kelvok sat back up. "Regardless of the reason for their anger, these creatures appear to be responsible for the annihilation of whoever sent the signal. More than that scans show they cover the entire planet. The good news, however, is they do not pose a threat to the Maximillian."

Commander Kragnar growled. "They only killed one crew member no, no threat at all."

Kelvok nodded. "I said no threat to the Maximillian, Commander. It is clear that the creatures prove a threat to humanoids, indeed, anyone on the planet."

Critch noticed something rough rubbing against his synthetic skin. He reached into his pocket.

Kragnar, always eager for a challenge, answered back. "Then why not attack the creatures from orbit? Wipe them out?"

Kelvok rose from his chair and looked out the window at the green planet below. "There are many extenuating circumstances. The creatures may have been attacked first; we do not have the necessary information to launch an assault. Starfleet procedure must rise above our feelings and needs for revenge."

Kragnar, always a Klingon first, began to complain about Starfleet procedures when Critch interrupted him. He put his hand on the table, and they all looked closely, including Overload, and Databit, who scurried onto the table to peer down on the object. It was the sprout that Starblade had found growing in the floor earlier, except it had now easily grown to twice its original size. Overload said, happily, "Sure looks like an angry plant." While Kelvok looked quickly at Critch. "Where _exactly_ did you find this, Commander?"

"In the hallway, right before we picked her up." He glanced at Overload.

Kelvok nodded, and then tapped his communicator. "Strike Group Alpha to Deck 3, landing bay 12. Force fields up." He then sat back down. "The creature must be able to grow itself from a single clipping that attached itself to the returning shuttle when it was escaping."

Kragnar grunted. "Not a threat, Captain?"

"It appears I miscalculated, Commander. Group Alpha should have arrived at the Deck by now. Commander?"

Rapid Response Advisor Korjak's stern voice flooded over the intercom. "Captain. Our Video transponders seem to be non-functional, but our audio channels are still working. It's very warm here, like a jungle. All Temperature gauges are offline, as are our suit-to-suit communications. All looks normal, however."

It was silent for a few moments, and all that could be heard over the intercom was Korjak's breathing.

"We're approaching the Landing bay area now. The doors have been completely torn open. There are large punctures in the walls, weapons are at the ready…"

Jaydin glanced at a pad in front of her. "Showing Temperature increases on all decks, Captain…upper 80's to 90's Fahrenheit…Hull Breaches! Decks 3…7, 8, 10!"

Kelvok raised an eyebrow, and a large burst of static erupted from the intercom. It was shortly followed by muffled screams, and then Korjak's voice, no longer calm and hard to understand. "Creatures…Killed…Destroyed…No use…Fall back…"

The intercom went silent. Jaydin looked back at the pad. "All inter-ship communications are down, Captain and there are more hull breaches."

Jaydin trailed off, and Kelvok looked at the stars, and the green planet below…


	5. Chapter 5

This story was originally published for the USS Maximillian.

For more information please visit maxwriters . pbwiki . com

The events in this story take place about two years after "Beyond the Final Frontier"

The intercom stopped broadcasting, and for a moment, all that could be heard in the room was the sound of breathing. Critch immediately stood up, and looked at Captain Kelvok. "I'm going."

He nodded. "Understood. Be careful, Commander."

Overload looked around for a moment as Critch began to head towards the door, and then brightly said, "I'm going too!"

Critch stopped, and looked back for a moment, and let out a small "heh." Jaydin looked up, and said, "Excuse me?"

Tamak shook his head, Skrit, the ESH (Emergency Security Hologram) laughed silently, and Kragnar growled in her direction. Kelvok, for his part, was calm. "Ensign, Commander Starblade is accustomed to going in as a last resort, he will do fine on his own. His technology…"

Overload interrupted him. "Is the same as mine. He's a droid! I'm a droid!"

Kragnar couldn't hold it in any longer. "Do NOT interrupt the Captain! He has made his decision!"

Kelvok glanced at Kragnar, the impetuous Klingon officer, former First Officer of the Maximillian, and then continued. "It is similar, but more advanced than yours. And he has combat experience."

"AND we don't have time to baby-sit!" Critch added in.

Overload looked put-back, and retorted, "You won't have to baby-sit me, droid. I can take care of myself. And, if I don't come, then we can't use…" She paused dramatically as she held up Databit.

Critch backed slowly towards the door, but continued the argument. "We don't need a doll."

"I am closer to what you would call, an 'Action-Figure'." The diminutive android piped in. "Regardless, Starfleet has entrusted us with these." His palm held out three small discs, fitting barely in his hands. "This should help on our mission, sir."

Critch peered closer, and took one from Databit, studying it. "I thought these were prototypes."

"Yes sir, hence why I only have the three. But we were commanded by Admiral T'Kill himself that we should keep those in close proximity." Databit, looking quite proud of himself, sat down comfortably in Overload's hand, as she stroked his hair happily.

Critch sighed as he looked pleadingly towards his Captain, but Kelvok merely waved her away. "There is no more time to argue, both…the three of you must hurry." There was no hiding the sarcasm in Critch's overdone salute eager to get this over with.

The turbo lift ride down to the afflicted deck was, in Critch's opinion, the longest in his life. He had tried to drown out what he considered to be the incessant prattling of Overload and Databit with thoughts about tactical situations similar to this he had faced, but it was no use. The inane conversation, and eventual questions in his direction, was near to driving him mad long before this creature ever had a chance to. He gave them a stern look for a moment, which quieted them, until Overload simply couldn't be quiet anymore. "So…you knew Data?"

Critch closed his eyes, and for a second thought about welcoming back the former topics. "It's none of your business."

Perplexed, Overload continued. "Hmm. He was great! He was happy and kind and sweet and funny and…" She got a sad look on her face, and stopped.

"You spoke to him, then?" Critch's attempt at conversation surprised even him.

"Well…. We exchanged mail, but you met him!"

"Only briefly."

"And?"

Critch glared at her. "And androids ask too many questions. I don't want to talk about this, least of all with you!"

"Why not me?"

"Because of what you are. A relic, an obsolete design, a remembrance of everything that was wrong with Data, Lore, the whole Soong line!" Critch and Overload were silent for a moment as the turbo lift slowed to a stop. Databit stood up from his sitting position on the floor. "It is fascinating how your model chooses to let out your emotions to attempt to hurt others, instead of studying them. However, at this point a more subtle approach may be best."

The turbo lift doors 'shushed' open, and Critch walked out quickly, barking orders. "Stay behind me, and stay alert. I don't want to be this thing's next course." Together, they moved silently through the corridors. Databit looked up at Overload, and raised his arms, and Overload quickly picked him up, holding him to her, and patted his head. "Don't be scared, Bit, I'm here, and Droid will take care of us." Critch didn't look behind him, but wondered how they could put so much trust into someone that was taking his anger out on them.

To get his mind off of it, Critch said out loud, "Maybe we should have stopped at the armory; maybe that I-Mod rifle would do something against this thing."

Overload shook her head as they leaned around a corner, noted that the lights had started to go out, then moved on. "The I-Mod is just a glorified Phaser Rifle. If phasers can't hurt the mean plant, I don't think the I-Mod would either." Critch had to agree. They were walking down a straight hallway, it was dark, and they heard a rhythmic banging, seemingly far away, but definitely getting closer. Critch turned to Overload she nodded, answering the unspoken question, and Databit burrowed his head deeper against her. They all heard it, they all knew what it was, and they all knew it was coming.

It was quicker than they thought. Vines erupted loudly from the decks and walls, tearing great holes in the hallways and destroying rooms. They saw Korjak blasting without success at the plant creature as he ran, eager to die with honor but not yet ready to go. He had enough of a lead on the creature that there was time to save him, but not much. Critch yelled at Overload to get one of the prototype transporters ready, but Overload was way ahead of him, she already had one ready and tossed it to Korjak, as he sped towards them. He caught it, and moments before a vine erupted at his feet to destroy him, he safely transported away. Critch allowed himself a breath, even as he tapped his badge. "Starblade to transporter room. If the communications are back online, tell me if you have him!"

A moment passed, as the creature paused, seemingly searching for its prey who had disappeared. The transporter room acknowledged. "We have him." Critch looked at Overload, who clutched Databit with one hand and handed him another prototype disc. He tapped it and it opened, he waited for the familiar sensations to wash over him.

No sensations. Neither he nor Overload, nor even little Databit transported. The prototype had failed. They looked at each other, then at the creature. The creature noticed them, forgetting about the lost Klingon, and started rampaging down the hall, right for them.


	6. Chapter 6

This story was originally published for the USS Maximillian.

For more information please visit maxwriters . pbwiki . com

The events in this story take place about two years after "Beyond the Final Frontier"

**PART FIVE**

The creature sped up through the hall; its vines tearing holes through the walls, doors, floors, and everything else it touched. Critch stared, unmoving, as the vines came closer and closer. He snapped to life, tapping the prototype device again, and again, but the same result happened every time: Nothing. No transportation to a safe location, not even a chirp or sputtering noise. Surprisingly, it was Overload who made the first move, clutching the diminutive Databit with one elbow, she grabbed Critch's arm and yelled, "COME ON!", pulling him off to the side before the vines could reach him.

"_It was true, I guess. It was a mean plant. Not happy about something. What, we could only guess. And I would've had it right then, if not for… And it would've been such a stupid death, too, especially after all this. No great speech, no sacrifice for the ship, nope, just plant food. In the space of a few minutes I went from leader to led, and I wasn't sure how I felt about it. Not happy, I can tell you that."_

Overload pulled Critch along; soon he regained his footing and his speed. Together they ran through the ship at speeds far greater than any human could accomplish. Critch yelled to her as they ran. "WHERE ARE WE GOING?"

The Vines crashed through the floor seconds behind them, and Overload let out a small shriek as Databit clutched her arm tighter. "THERE'S A TURBOLIFT THIS WAY! I SAW IT!"

"HAVEN'T YOU DOWNLOADED THE MAX'S SCHMATICS?"

"I HAVEN'T HAD TIME! I JUST GOT HERE!"

Critch glanced at Databit as they turned a corner, not a moment too soon as the vines moved forward, crashing through the wall. "WHAT ABOUT HIM?"

Databit, rather shakily, closed his eyes for a moment, then raised his arm, pointing. Even though he shouted, his small voice was still hard to hear over the noises the plant creature was making. "We should take a right at the next intersection, the turbo lift will be the second door on the right."

Critch shouted, "GOOD." And they ran. It was a short jaunt to the next intersection; they rounded the curve with expert precision, the vines still snapping at their heels. They sprinted to the second door and it opened on their arrival. The Vines followed them as they entered the turbo lift. They plastered themselves against the back wall of the lift, as the vines prepared to grab them. Overload had the presence of mind to shout "DOORS CLOSE." The doors slid shut quickly, their sharp edges slicing through the vines. Somewhere, there was a deep bellow of pain and there was no more movement outside the turbo lift.

Critch allowed himself to relax, and breathed heavy for a moment. Overload turned her attention to Databit. After calming him down and setting him on the floor, she patted him on the head and let him know how good of a job he had done. Looking quite pleased with himself, Databit sat down, as Overload asked Critch, "Where are we going now?"

Critch sighed, annoyed again though inwardly cursing himself for his annoyance because there was no real reason for it. "We have to get to the bridge and meet back with the Command Staff." He spoke louder, this time to the turbo lift. "Bridge!" Then he tapped his communicator. "Captain?" There was no answer, only a bit of static, and then nothing. The turbo lift started moving for a moment, then ground to a halt. "Damn it." He yelled to the turbo lift. "BRIDGE!" The dry, feminine voice of the computer came to life, "Unable to…Unable…" Sparks began coming from the ceiling, and they instinctively ducked as the comm system shorted out.

Databit stood up slowly. "The Turbo lift and Communications systems appear to be down."

As Overload picked Databit back up, Critch sighed. "Thank you, Mr. Tricorder." As he jumped high up to the top of the lift, Databit huffed indignantly. "I actually have three billion four hundred and fifty seven thousand, seventy four more uses than a standard tricorder. Though we share many similarities in some aspects, we differ in far more…" By this time, Critch had already climbed on top of the lift, and had offered a hand to Overload, who had taken it gladly. As Overload climbed up with Critch, holding the still elucidating small droid, Critch whispered, "Is he always this…verbose?" Overload smiled.

"Moreso, quite frequently." Critch allowed a small groan as Databit finished. They began climbing up the shaft, hoping that they could reach their goal before their plant friends regained the courage to attack them yet again. Unfortunately, it was not to be, for moments after they had begun climbing, a fresh set of vines crashed through the turbo lift below them. Soon it was falling down the shaft in pieces, exploding as it fell. The determined androids began to climb faster. The chase had begun again. However it seemed that this time the vines had even more of an advantage, with no regard for the laws of gravity, even the artificial gravity found on board the Maximillian, they climbed through the crawlspace, straight up. Critch knew they only had a few moments, and he frantically looked around, and found a door opening a few rungs above. "COME ON!" He yelled, and climbed faster, reaching the door, and manually cranking it open. With no time to leave to chance, and untrusting Overload's Soong-based model's speed, he grabbed the back of her uniform, picking her up and tossing her through the door, he followed her a second later, with the vines speeding past them skyward. As the door closed behind them, they ran as fast as their legs would allow, and for a moment Critch was impressed at the fact that despite the difference in their architecture, Overload could keep up with him no matter the speed. He stopped being distracted with such thoughts when Databit spoke. "What is our destination?"

Critch was about to reply when Overload spoke up. "Sickbay is on this level! We'll go there!" As the vines had recovered and began chasing them again, he didn't argue, but he did wonder why. As they neared the Sickbay doors, Overload anticipated Critch's unspoken concerns. "I studied a bit about the ship while I was on the shuttle! Sickbay, next to the bridge, is one of the most secure sections on the ship! With force fields and everything! Radiant with pride and pleased to have an opportunity to use her knowledge, Overload ran into Sickbay, Critch at her side and Databit in her arms, calling out "Force field up!" Knowing she didn't have the correct command necessary to order the raising of the force fields, Critch said the words right after her. "Computer! Raise Force field A!"

At their heels, a force field sprung into life. After a moment as they slowed down, Critch commanded another force field, and a second one, a few meters behind the first, came to be.

They ran to the rear of sickbay as the vines entered sickbay and hit the force field. It stopped them, but they continued to charge the force field, studying it for any weaknesses. Critch grunted. "The fields aren't going to hold them for long… we need to lower the bulkheads."

Overload was right behind him. "Do we have enough time?"

Critch sighed. "We need a distraction."

Overload smiled. "Okay!" She bounced to the center of sickbay, and sung out, "Activate the Emergency Medical Holographic Program!" Before Critch could stop her, a Mark I Emergency hologram materialized in sickbay. He started to speak.

"Please state…"

Critch walked up to him. "Hi, listen, we need…" Overload interrupted him.

"Stand between the force fields, please!" She said brightly, as he gave her a confused look, but acquiesced to her request. As he began to notice the swaying vines he gave a weak protest. "Wait a minute…. I'm a doctor, not a botanist!"

Critch nodded. "Close enough. Lower the second bulkhead!" The bulkhead began to lower slowly. As it was almost halfway down, the first force field went down, and the vines advanced on the EMH. The vines seemed to study him for a moment, as the EMH backed up a step, a very worried look on his face. He attempted to communicate with the vines. "Um, err, welcome, plant-creature…to sickbay! I'm sure we can find you some…err…comfortable arrangements…"

Critch grimaced, and told the computer to lower the first bulkhead. It came down in place of the first force field, and sliced the vines in half. Once again there was a great scream, and then silence. Critch allowed himself a sigh of relief, that once again, through a great deal of luck; they had triumphed, if only for the moment. He slid down against the cabinet, resting himself, and then remembered he wasn't alone in sickbay. He glanced upward, searching for his companions, and saw them, opening the emergency armory, and retrieving a few phaser-rifles. He stood up slowly. "Um…?"

Overload didn't notice, and laid the rifles down on a bio-bed. She than began to retrieve items from the storage compartments. Critch was now fully standing. "What are you doing now?"

"Experimenting." She said simply, and began to carry armloads of bottles over to the rifles. Critch shook his head.

"On what?"

"It's a surprise." She smiled to herself, then whispered something to Databit, who smirked, then whispered back.

"We don't have time for surprises! We have to get to the bridge!" Critch said, exasperated.

Databit looked up at him, from where he was tilting a relatively large bottle of a milky substance into a beaker. "Do you know of a safe path around the creatures?"

Critch stopped, and shook his head.

"Then there seems to be ample time to test a theory."

Critch began to ask, but then thought better of it, and slid back down. Perhaps they'd end up blowing up the ship instead of the creatures; He just wasn't sure which one he'd prefer at the moment.

"_I'll say this, there was no quitting on their part. Just go go go and never stop. Optimistic to the last, and then some. Unlike me in every aspect. Completely unwilling to accept their fate. Unlike our glorious Command Staff, who threw in the towel pretty early. A bit too early, as we were to find out."_


	7. Chapter 7

This story was originally published for the USS Maximillian.

For more information please visit maxwriters . pbwiki . com

The events in this story take place about two years after "Beyond the Final Frontier"

"…I do not agree." Captain Kelvok stood, his back facing the rest of the command staff, who were awaiting his answer. Nato, the Kattaran Communications officer, and Jaydin were both looking over the reports coming in from all over the ship, but they had long since stopped informing their Captain of the news. It had all became the same. Deck by deck, power had been replaced by emergency power, and the vessel had slowed to near a complete stop. Engineering had gone mostly offline. It was a miracle that most of the populated decks had remained undamaged, but the plants were spreading quickly. Tamak moved in his chair.

"It will be three hours and forty-two minutes until the creatures have taken complete control of the ship. At this point, it would seem to be our best option."

"We must not let these…things… control our ship!" Kragnar stated, furiously.

Kelvok nodded. "Even taking that into consideration, I am not prepared to abandon the Maximillian, and am unwilling to destroy it!"

Jaydin kept her head down. "These creatures are intelligent, Kelvok, and we can't even scratch them with our weapons. If they reach us and the command deck, they could spread throughout the quadrant."

Kragnar jumped in. "Do you want to see that happen, Captain? Do you want what happened to that world happen to Earth? To Vulcan?"

Kelvok turned around. "You are aware of my wishes. I believe, however, that there must be another way of disabling the creature. Where is the greatest concentration of the plants, Commander?"

Jaydin punched a few buttons on her pad. "Engineering and surrounding decks."

"Retry the gas mixtures, and use a higher yield of hiloprolene. This may…"

Kragnar pounded the table. "We have used the gas before, with no effect! We have lost many men. We haven't even heard back from your androids!"

Kelvok allowed an imperceptible sigh, and then glanced around the table. He saw the desire of each of them in their eyes, saw their wish for revenge, for justice, and saw their fears, and knew that they trusted him to make the right decision. He held his head high as he turned back to the window. "Computer, Activate Self-Destruct Sequence, 30 minute Countdown. Authorization, Kelvok, 3-C, 2-B, 1-A." He turned to Tamak, who responded with his authorization, and then Nato completed it. After a moment, Nato pressed a few tabs on his control console and then spoke. "To members of the Maximillian: All hands, abandon ship. Report to your nearest designated escape pod. This is not a drill." He looked back to Kelvok. "I set it to repeat, but there are still many decks with no communications, such as Engineering, Sickbay…"

The Captain nodded. "Those decks are infested with creatures, it is unlikely that there will be many that can hear that message. Commanders, we should go." They began to slowly file out of the room.

In sickbay, unaware of what had just transpired above them in the boardroom, Critch was still sitting against the cabinet. He would occasionally glance at the other two androids, looking happily determined, moving around circuits and gizmos within the inner workings of a phaser rifle. Overload, a few moments before, had begun whistling a tune, something Critch couldn't quite place. He tried to shut it out, but for some reason, it just wasn't quite working. Finally he gave up. "What's that?"

"What's what?" Overload didn't pause in her work for a moment.

"The song, the thing you're humming."

"Oh, that. Just something."

"You wouldn't be singing it if you didn't know what it was."

She paused and then smiled. "That's right!" She bent back down and continued on her work.

Critch sighed. She ignored it, but Databit looked up. "It would be appropriate for you to answer her questions if she is to answer yours in return."

Critch shook his head. "What questions? She hasn't asked any!"

"I believe there were multiple unanswered questions earlier, when we were making our way to our first encounter with the creatures."

Critch stopped. And sighed again. After a moment, Overload looked over to him. "You sigh a lot."

"Comes with the territory."

"What territory?"

"Life."

"I have a life too, and I don't sigh nearly as much."

"Good, I don't recommend it."

"Then you should stop!"

"It's not that easy to make everything go away, sometimes things just have to be worked through, sometimes things just have to come and take you over."

She thought for another moment. "But if they take you over, where do you go? It doesn't make sense for things to overtake you. Instead, they should be learned from, and then you become a better droid!"

"But what if it's too much? What if it takes the people you care about away?"

"Nothing's ever too much! There's nothing too powerful that it can't be laughed down! And if they go away, they'll always be there in your mind." She tapped her head.

Critch looking at her paused for a moment, thinking over everything that she had said. "It was a few years ago, right after we met the Marconians for the first time. We had lost quite a few people. Admiral Lyon, for one, and our Captain." He stopped, composing himself. "The Max was in serious shape after that, most of the ships were at that point. What with the damage the Macornian vessel did, and then compounded by the explosion that happened afterward. The Sovereign class ships were all at the same star base, and I was sitting in our battle bar, watching the guys float by putting on the hull plating. I didn't even notice him come up behind me." Overload had stopped and sat down next to Critch.

"Data?"

"Yeah. We spent most of the time discussing the differences in our architecture, Soong models vs. Marconian works, that kind of thing. His emotion chip was working overtime at that point, so it was kind of hard to keep him on one subject, but he seemed very interested in how life on the Maximillian was, how we worked together, how an Android with no desire to be human could fit in, and so on.

"He was very wrapped up in his crew, his Captain and everyone over there. We talked about the Enterprise crew and how devoted he was to Captain Picard. And I talked about Admiral Lyon. How his whole career was sacrificed because of his discoveries, I guess his discovery of me.

"He got on the subject of sacrifice then, and half jokingly I said he had to watch the humans, he'll end up throwing himself away for one someday.

"Then he got real serious. Talked about how proud he would be to sacrifice himself for his Captain, or his ship. Talked about how death was one of the things that made something human, something sentient. He talked about "The great adventure" of death, how it scared him but intrigued him." Critch let out one heavier sigh, and looked down at the ground. "I guess he knows all about the great adventure now."

A tear rolled down Overload's cheek. "I…I understand why you were upset with me."

He looked up, angrily, not at her however. "It's a flaw, a flaw with the system. A perfectly designed being, destroying itself for such an imperfect human! That's the problem with Soong Androids! That's the problem with you!"

Overload stood up, and walked over to the table, patted Databit on the head, then closed up the Phaser Rifle. She said, quietly. "Karma Chameleon."

Critch stopped. "Karma Chameleon?"

She nodded. "1980's, Best place in history." She crossed to a bulkhead. "If you're not willing to risk what you have for anything, Critch, then what do you really have?" Then she looked up at the wall. "Computer, Raise Bulkheads 1 and 2, and deactivate the force fields!" Before Critch could get up to stop her, the bulkheads raised up, the force fields went down, and the Vines rushed back into the open space, recovered from their earlier loss, eager for revenge. She gritted her teeth, and silently repeated. "It is NOT a flaw!" She fired the phaser at a vine, the beam a dark green than the usual red. When the phaser impacted with the side of the vine, where prior phaser fire merely left a dark mark, now it seemed to eradicate the creature completely. There was a great howl, and the vine disappeared in a yellowing vapor. She fired at the second vine, with the same result.

Critch ran to her, in amazement. "What the hell did you do?"

"I've been a few places, droid. One of them had a weed problem. I fixed it."

"Um…"

"I made another one. If you want it, you have to promise to be nicer, to everybody! Especially the pretty little girl android. Got it?"

Critch, wondering how everything had changed so quickly, slowly nodded. She called to Databit, who, awkwardly lifting a phaser rifle over his head, ran to her. Critch took it from him, and she picked up Databit. They both held their rifles on the exit of sickbay. As they heard a rustling heading towards them, Critch spoke quickly. "We head out, shoot anything that moves, we get to a comm terminal, and contact the Captain."

She glanced up at him. "Saddle up?"

Critch allowed a smirk. "Lock and load."

The emergency lights flashed red as the command staff reached their destination, the entryway to their escape pods. It was a quick journey; the pods were located just off of their meeting room. Off in the distance, glancing out the window, they could see the first pods escaping the ship, and Jaydin felt some relief that at least some of them would live to fight another day, perhaps to serve on the next Maximillian, if there would be another one. She sighed as she watched Nato, Kragnar, and Tamak fill a pod, which a moment later blasted off, leaving the ship behind. Jaydin walked slowly to her pod, and opened it. It was quiet now, and it seemed that they were the only ones left on the ship. Kelvok, standing behind her, was very quiet. She attempted to laugh. "Kind of an interesting way to have a ship go out, isn't it?"

Kelvok allowed a nod. "The Admiralty will be thrilled."

She climbed into the pod, and settled into the co-pilot's seat. She glanced back at him. "Coming?"

He merely looked at her. "No." Before she could respond, or even speak, he pressed a few buttons on the door, closing the pod hatch, and it launched. He watched the force field settle into place, watched the vessel fly away from the ship, then calmly walked down the silent hallway, illuminated only by the flashing red lights. Communications had already gone down in this section of the Max, and it was unclear if there were any working systems on the ship. Even life support had begun to go offline in some of the areas with breached hulls. He reached his destination, back on the bridge. He walked to his office, and slid open a small closet. From there, he retrieved an infinity modulator class V phaser rifle, and powered it up. He went to the bridge's turbo lift, the last working lift on this deck, took one last look at his bridge, at his chair, then spoke to the computer. "Engineering."

Critch and Overload, along with Databit, had just reached the communications array, when they began to see the escape pods. Seemingly hundreds of them, flying past the ship and on into deep space, an amazing sight to see. However, at this point, it was the exact opposite of what they were hoping for. Critch looked amazed as Overload tapped into the array, and quickly reactivated the damaged comm speakers. Instantly they sprang to life. "All hands abandon ship…" The sequence continued, and the display showed a scant twenty minutes remaining before the mighty Max would destroy itself, from warp core outward, hopefully taking the hated creatures along with it. Overload looked up at Critch, her eyes searching for some kind of hope, as he followed the last escape pod's trail, far away from the ship, far away from its home.


	8. Chapter 8

This story was originally published for the USS Maximillian.

For more information please visit maxwriters . pbwiki . com

The events in this story take place about two years after "Beyond the Final Frontier"

**PART SEVEN**

"_Hopeless. I never really thought about that word until then. Watching that last pod go, knowing that we were alone on a ship that was going to blow up and was crawling with too many creatures to count. Hopeless was my first thought, my only feeling. How could we survive something like that? How would we manage to get by? I started thinking about 'the great adventure' again. Death. The end of everything. I wondered what happened next. Do androids have souls? Is there anything else after this, or is it all useless? Regardless, it seemed we would find out in the next twenty minutes."_

Critch simply stared out the window, every thought having left him, gazing with his enhanced vision until neither he nor the other two androids could see the small pod, on its way to a designated safe area, where a Starfleet vessel would presumably locate them later. He had a brief, terrifying thought of what would happen if a plant-creature had managed to lay a seed inside a pod. The shear improbability of such an act managed to convince him that the other pods were safe. As the pod lights faded into the stars, Critch angrily began pounding hard on the windows. He yelled, an angry, sorrowful yell, and sank sadly onto the floor, weakly pounding at the wall.

"Critch?" Overload, concerned, said weakly. "You ok, man? What do we do now?"

Overload shook her head, as Critch continued. "Nothing. We do nothing. We sit here, we die, and that's it, all for nothing. Everything we've done has been a waste. This ship, this whole 'wonderful' idealism of Starfleet, always shot down; beaten down by anything we come across. We're never going to win."

Overload patted his shoulder. "It's not about winning, though. It's about doing what we can while we're here. We have to keep going."

"Going _Where_? Back to sickbay? Back to the bridge? Where do we start?"

"We find the mama plant! The one that's controlling the vines!" Overload smiled, satisfied with her thought, but Critch groaned.

"And where do we start looking? How many decks do you think there are? How many possible spots to look in?"

"Well, it's better than just moping yourself to death!"

"Fine! Lets look over there, shall we?" Critch got up, and walked to a corner, peering around it. "Nope! And over there?" He walked down the hallway, and shouted back. "NOTHING HERE!" He walked back and stared her down. "Any other bright ideas?"

"You're being difficult."

"_I'M_ Being difficult? You're living in a fantasy world!"

"Yeah, well, you're living in a pessimistic world!"

"That dosen't even make any sense!"

Both of them were so engrossed in their arguments that they didn't notice Databit get up from his wall perch, jump to the floor, and start walking down the hallway. After he got a little ways away from them, he perked his head up, and began to run quickly towards a malfunctioning turbo lift, down the hall. The doors were opening and closing slowly, and sparks were being discharged from the sides, and the lift itself was simply not there. Databit peered down into the darkness, hearing a faraway rustling.

Overload looked up, her eyes shining. "Databit?"

She saw him, just as he jumped down into the lift. She panicked. "DATABIT!" She sprinted, racing down the hall as Critch sighed again, rising quickly.

"Come back here! I'm not finished with you!" He ran after her, and nearly caught her before she jumped down the lift after the miniature android, her voice echoing in the darkness. He shook his head. "They're crazy." And walked away from the lift.

A moment later he ran to the lift, and jumped down after them.

The Captain of the Starship _Maximillian_ crawled through a Jefferies tube. Kelvok was listening intently, trying to follow the sounds of the vines, while at the same time being as silent as possible so as to not attract the attention of the creatures. He mulled over what he had done, tricked Jaydin and the rest of the command staff, so that he could face this monster one on one. He remembered that the greatest concentration of the plants seemed to be on and around the engineering decks, so he was doing his best to take the out-of-the-way routes there. He moved around, as fast as he was silent, making his way to the hatch in front of him. He took a deep breath, and pushed the grate out of his way. He heard it hit the floor, farther down than he had guessed, and then followed it down.

Databit fell down, his feet ready for the ground to appear any moment. A few moments later, Overload tumbled down after him, grinning and yelling happily, the thrill of the fall affecting her. After her, Critch fell, yelling fearfully. He didn't fear the landing so much, being nearly indestructible. It was just something about the wind rushing past him that was unreal. Databit landed safely, and quickly moved out of the way to avoid Overload's body, as she landed rear-first on the silver floor. She stood up, dusted herself off, and stepped forward just as Critch landed spread eagle face first onto the floor, hard. As he got up, painfully, he snidely said to her, "You could have caught me."

She was too busy picking up and checking Databit over to respond. Once she was satisfied that he was unharmed, she chastised him. "Don't you ever EVER do that again! What were you thinking?"

Databit had a sad expression on his face. "But I….I was simply getting the location of the plant-creature for you! It is one deck above us, in Engineering bay…"

"I don't care!" Even Critch was shaken a bit by her admonishment. "If I lost you I don't know what I'd do!" Databit looked downtrodden, and sniffed a bit.

"I am sorry." He said sincerely.

Critch walked past them. "If we're done with the apologies, where are we?" The entire deck seemed to be pitch black.

Databit began to rattle off statistics. "One deck below engineering. Life support is malfunctioning, as are emergency lights and most essential systems. Preliminary scans are incomplete, as if they are being blocked somehow…"

"Then we need lights. Overload, gimme a hand over here." Critch had used his infrared viewing mode to scope out a panel. With her help, he was able to remove the panel and start to work on the lights. As he worked, he saw her shiver. "What's wrong?"

"I just have a bad feeling about this."

"I didn't know Soongian Androids could feel. I was under the impression that even an Emotion chip is rare with you guys."

"We all have one! Me and Databit, and…." She looked away sadly as Critch nodded.

"Even Lore. Well, I think I can get the lights back on by drawing some power away from the rest of the ship. Nobody left to need life support anyway." He messed with some wiring, and slowly, the lights came on all over the deck. At least, what was left of the decks.

What the lights revealed, was a giant hollowed out area, formerly made up of about four levels, and branching into a fifth. There was severe damage done to the ceiling, and they could just barely make out the Warp Core, pulsating in blues and whites, but slower than normal. Critch gaped at the sight of the destroyed area, and then noticed the green areas scattered around the floors and walls. "What…" He walked closer to one, then stared in horror as the realization hit him.

Seedlings. Future plant-creatures. He looked at the Warp core still operating, and remembered that these things had some intelligence. He started talking to himself as he looked around the area. "They're going to take over the ship. Seed themselves all over the galaxy."

Overload got a nasty look on her face. "Mean plants."

"Smart plants. I've never even heard of anything like this before." A sudden rustling interrupted his thoughts, and he realized they weren't alone. He turned to see five separate vines, coming from the ceiling and the floor, heading right for them. "OVERLOAD, FIRE!"

She whirled around, and between the two of them, they were quickly able to decimate the vines. More erupted out of the sides of the deck. Critch no longer wondered how they were able to destroy so much of the decks as he fired into the twirling attackers. Databit was clinging to Overload's arm as she fired frantically. After a moment, the howls stopped, which by now were sounding very close, right above them almost. They both looked up, and then heard another firefight going on near where the howls were resonating. They couldn't believe their eyes when they made out Kelvok futilely firing against something large. Critch looked at Overload, who had a panicked expression on her face. Jumping to action, he did some calculations in his head, and ducked in a side room. Feeling fortunate that Korjak's rapid response unit kept a well-stocked armory on every deck, sometimes more than one, he pulled out a large launcher-type rifle, and hustled back to Overload. Her eyes wide, she exclaimed, "What's that?" Critch narrowed his eyes.

"Get back."

As she wisely followed his orders, He aimed below the large object above him, closed his eyes, and pulled the trigger.

Quantum Torpedo Launchers were _never _supposed to be used at close range, and _never_ on the _Maximillian_ itself.

The blue shot fired out of the launcher slowly, and the shot forced Critch back, and he fell. The shot impacted with the ceiling, blowing it to pieces, shards of metal flying everywhere. In hindsight, Critch realized that so close to the Warp Core, it was a miracle he didn't destroy the whole ship in the process. No going back now, however. He saw a great green clump fall down, followed by pieces of deck and ceiling and wall, but he was more preoccupied with the Captain who had wisely thrown himself backwards at the first sign of an explosion. He was now peering over the gaping hole, staring at the androids. "COMMANDER!" He yelled.

"CAPTAIN! WE CAN DESTROY THE CREATURES! ALL WE NEED…" Critch was quickly cut off by a huge vine jutting upward out of the rubble, and running itself very close to Kelvok. It threw him off balance, and he fell through the hole. Quicker than Critch could react, Overload ran to where he would crash, and caught him before he would land in the rubble. She greeted him enthusiastically. "Captain Kitty!"

Showing great Vulcan resistance to display his relief, he simply replied, "Thank you, Ensign." She let him down, and he turned to Critch. "What do we need?"

Critch was uneasily eying the vine that was now retracting from the ceiling. "We need…um…cancel the self destruct!" As Kelvok began to cancel the sequence, the vine curved on the ground to form a leg. Several more 'legs' came out of the rubble, and they braced themselves on the floor. They tensed, and what could only be described as a giant green bulb rose from the rubble. It easily filled the room, hundreds of small vines beneath it balancing and moving, squirming like a collection of upright worms. On the bulb itself, there were no eyes, ears, nose, only a large mouth taking up the lower half of the being, it's razor-sharp teeth spinning and grinding. And it was coming straight for the remainder of the _Maximillian _Crew. Critch looked at the creature, forced himself to realize that Overload was right, that this was a _very_ angry plant. He nodded to Overload, and they opened fire on the creature, which was moving at them slowly. It let out a groan when the fire hit it, but it was not damaged in anyway that they could detect.

"Damn it…Back off! Cancel the Self Destruct, Captain!" Indeed, according to Critch's internal clock, there were only a few minutes remaining, no more than five, at least. They began to back up, firing as they went. They noticed there was a little damage when they looked closely. It was eating away at the creature, like some kind of acid. But it wasn't fast enough. Kelvok kept starting to cancel the self-destruct sequence, but every time he did, a vine would come out of the creature's lower half, and he would have to stop to dodge the vine. Eventually they had to begin running, and they hit a far more damaged area of the deck. Electrical wires and pieces lay everywhere. They were running backwards, still firing at the creature and the vines, but for every vine they destroyed, it seemed two more would take its place.

Critch was on the verge of panic as he jumped over a sparking wire. "This isn't working!" Overload was too busy firing and Kelvok was too busy trying to halt the approaching doom of the Mighty Max.

Suddenly, a large vine rushed out of nowhere and wrapped itself around Critch's leg. The vine, attached to the creature, pulled up and began dangling Critch, pulling him closer to its mouth. The Quantum Torpedo launcher fell in from where it had been wrapped around Critch's arm, and it was swallowed without so much as a bite. Straight down the gullet, which was where Critch appeared to be heading.

Overload's eyes grew dark, and she stopped backing up, and advanced on the distracted creature, firing right into its mouth, firing so fast the rifle was near overheating. She didn't care. She cared only about one thing now, saving Critch by any means possible. She was yelling at it, screaming "LET HIM GO LET HIM GO". The creature, in great pain, dropped Critch at its 'feet', right in front of a sparking wire. Critch thought quickly, grabbed the wire, yelled, "GET BACK!" and thrust the wire into the creature's underside. Blue streaks and jets of electricity flowed and streamed all over the creature and it groaned and screamed sorrowfully, and so loud it seemed to shake the decks. After what seemed to be an eternity of lines of light and dark streams over the creature, it let out one last protesting moan, and then fell on its side with a great crashing. After the realization that his quick-witted plan had worked, Critch rose quickly, full of adrenaline. Remembering quickly, he spun on his heels, facing Kelvok. But he was already done. The self-destruct sequence had been cancelled. The _Maximillian _was safe. Overload was breathing heavy, as Databit released his death grip on her, and climbed down, walking slowly towards the creature, looking curiously at it. Critch walked next to Overload.

"You…You…"

"I?" She smiled at him.

"You saved me!"

"Least I could do."

"But you could have died!"

"But I didn't, and we won! PARTY TIME!" She started dancing, as Critch shook his head. Still so much he didn't understand. So much he didn't know, but at least now he realized that he would like to find out about Overload, and more about his friends, and the rest of the crew. He started thinking about the mess here, and the cleanup process. This would take months. He glanced around at the gaping holes, the ruts and dents in the decks, the disastrous monstrous hole caused by his shot, the moving vines…

Critch's eyes widened, and he looked, helpless, as the vine closed on Databit, picking him up and tossing him in the reawakened creature's mouth. It righted itself, let out what could only be considered a small belch, and then restarted its prior movements.

Suddenly grief stricken, all sense lost, Overload screamed. "NO! DATABIT!" She ran up to the creature, firing as before. "GIVE HIM BACK! HE'S MINE! YOU CAN'T HAVE…" She was silenced when the creature grabbed her, and almost as easily as it had swallowed the launcher and Databit, it crammed her headfirst into its mouth. All signs of a struggle stopped soon after.

Critch was in shock, and could only slowly back up.

"_It all made sense, all of a sudden. The bit about sacrifice, the great adventure, all of it came together. And I knew what I had to do."_

"GET BEHIND ME!"

"Commander?" Kelvok raised an eyebrow.  
"When it attacks me, Get to an escape pod, and reactivate the Self Destruct!"

"Critch…"

"DO IT!" Stunned, but knowing now that it was the only decision he could make, he nodded. "It has been a pleasure, Commander."

Critch was staring down the creature. "Likewise." Critch was ready. He closed his eyes.

The creature advanced and stopped.

At the first moment of no movement, Critch opened his eyes, fully expecting to see the teeth about to sink into his head. Instead, the creature was beginning to growl.

The next instant, the creature simply exploded all over the deck with a mighty BOOM and several jarring thuds as pieces of the creature, teeth and shards of vine rained throughout the decks. A piece of tooth embedded itself into Critch's leg, and he quickly turned off his pain sensors to that area as he blinked rapidly, trying to clear his eyes of the green gunk that had suddenly clouded his vision. What he saw when he cleared them was unmistakable, yet unbelievable.

Overload stood, holding the just fired, and still intact, quantum torpedo launcher. A frightened Databit clinging, as before, to her leg. Critch had a stupefied, amazed look on his face. She simply looked at him. "Nobody messes with my 'bit."

Kelvok nodded. "Excellent work, Ensign. And Commander. We must get to the bridge now. We need to begin to get the pods back."

They turned, Critch limping a bit, and he put a reassuring arm on Overload. "I understand now."

Overload nodded. "I figured you would." She smiled, and they began the long trek back to the bridge.

"_And that's that, as they say. As you know, the pods have all been returned, save a couple empty ones that are unaccounted for, but we'll get them soon enough. Engineering and everything is being rebuilt, and we're on route to the closest space station for further repairs. Yay us."_

"That was fun!"

"You have strange ideas of fun."

"Which doesn't change the fact that they're still fun!" Overload sat next to Critch on the couch happily.

"I still think about Data, and I think he was right. To die would be a great adventure, but to live, that would be an even greater one."

"You've finally figured it out!" She grinned. "Well, I have to go help Jaydin with some experiments, could you watch Databit for me?"

"Overload, I'm not a droid-sitter!"

"Pleeeease?" Overload looked at Critch with wide, puppy-dog style eyes.

"Fine. But this time, the games are OFF LIMITS!"


End file.
